THE TRAGEDY OF FLIGHT 3407
Long-distance romance ended with Flight 3407 crash
More than a month after Continental Connection Flight 3407 fell from the sky, snuffing out the lives of 50 people, loved ones of Clay Yarber believe they will finally be able to bid him a proper farewell.
Just this week, they learned that some of the remains of Yarber, 62, of Riverside, Calif. — who had set aside his fear of flying to meet up with his long-distance girlfriend and three daughters — had been identified.
His family and loved ones are now waiting for the completion of the identification process so that his remains will be released and they can hold a funeral for him.
It’s not known how many victims have yet to be identified. The Erie County medical examiner’s office has declined to give out such details out of respect for the families.
But it’s clear Yarber’s family isn’t alone. Health Department spokesman Kevin Montgomery confirmed to The Buffalo News that “the identification process is continuing.”
The shock and sadness over Yarber’s death, followed by the long wait for news about his body, has been agonizing for his girlfriend, Lonnie Vater, 49, of Pine Plains in Dutchess County.
“It’s been like a seesaw,” she said. “At first everybody kept saying there wouldn’t be any remains. Then they said a lot of the people were pretty much intact. I adjusted to that. I thought at least there can be a funeral and people can pay their respects. Then they said there might not be any remains.”
She is now once again preparing for the funeral, which will take place in Ohio, and a memorial service in Florida.
The long goodbye has been hard on Vater.
“The emotions have been all over the place,” she said. “There’s always sadness. At times, depression. The hardest thing is the emptiness. It’s more than a void. It’s like a crater.”
For Vater and Yarber, Presidents Day weekend was supposed to be their first real date. Vater and Yarber had known each for 27 years, but it was just a few months ago that they reconnected over the phone and began to realize they had feelings for each other.
“We would always keep tabs on each other,” Vater said. “Throughout the years, you lose touch. But it was always, ‘Where’s Clay?” or ‘How’s Clay?’ It’s funny. Our paths never came together until a few months ago.”
Yarber had been married and divorced several times before, and Vater was in the midst of a divorce when they began talking on the phone. They had been friends since they both lived in Florida in the 1980s.
“I’m going to make you fall in love with me,” Yarber had told Vater back in October.
And she did — even though they hadn’t yet had a chance to be together in person.
Their plan was to meet in Buffalo. It was a drivable distance from where Vater lived with her daughters, and Yarber was planning on moving somewhere upstate within a few months. And they chose Presidents Day weekend, to take advantage of the extra day off.
Yarber, a Vietnam veteran, was afraid to fly. But he told Vater that he was willing to take a plane so he could be with her.
On Feb. 12, she packed up her three daughters—Kenly, 11, and 8-year-old twins, Vincent and Jansen — and they drove out to Buffalo. Vater packed a picnic lunch that they had planned to enjoy somewhere in the hotel where they would all be staying.
Yarber’s plane from California to Newark had been delayed. Then his flight from Newark to Buffalo was delayed as well. So she knew it wouldn’t be in until after 10.
She drove up to Buffalo Niagara International Airport with her daughters. They circled the airport over and over. Yarber had told Vater not to bother parking.
At about 10:20 p. m., Vater said she suddenly felt chest pains.
“I think I’m having a heart attack,” Vater said she told her girls. The feeling passed but she was getting worried. There was no sign of Yarber.
At about 11:30 p. m. she put on the radio, looking for the airport information channel. Instead, she came across a news bulletin: A plane had crashed.
“I was in a complete panic,” she said. She pulled up to the curb and asked a transit police officer if he knew which plane had crashed. She asked him if other planes were being prevented from landing because of the crash. He said they weren’t.
Vater knew. She parked her car and brought her girls into the airport, the beginning of what she described as “the most horrific experience of my life and at the same time, the most loving.”
Transit police officers, the Rev. Joe Moreno from St. Lawrence Church who was comforting victims’ families, staff from Continental and the Red Cross all came to the aid of Vater and her daughters. “Everyone involved embraced us with love and compassion,” she said.
Vater said she is thankful for the love she shared with Yarber, the many phone calls between them, and all the hope he gave her. But a month later, she still doesn’t know how she’ll go on.
“It’s like a love story,” she said, “one of those beautiful, tragic love stories.”
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